Case Study – Lorraine Forster

Kier originally approached Create the Space to deliver a Programme for First Line Managers

Lorraine completed an ILM level 3 Certificate in Leadership and Management. The programme took place over an 8-month period and was made up of seven face-to-face modules. The modules ensure the learners understand more about themselves and their impact on others and how they can best lead others. The programme also considers what they can do to lead a safety culture in the workplace, manage their team, be more commercially aware, and look at business improvement techniques.

We spoke to Lorraine about her experience, as part of the course she was required to complete an Insights Profile, which she found to be very revealing. Before she worked at Kier, she was made to believe her management style wasn’t correct, but she actually discovered there are many different styles of managing people, and that you should adapt your style to the person you are dealing with and their preferences.

This discovery made her aware of how other people respond in different situations, and about the best way to deal with conflict and difficult conversations. Lorraine also found the best ways to manage sickness and the information about under and over performers very useful. The programme reaffirmed and refreshed her thinking and her understanding of the way her behaviours can impact others.

The health and safety module was more useful for the site based course participants but the trainer identified some useful things to look out for in an office based environment.

Lorraine feels that she is more confident in her role and has stopped putting off difficult conversations. She has also put into place a plan to deal with under performance. Lorraine is confident in her ability to recognise and reward good performance, ensuring that all team members are challenged in the workplace.

Completing the assignments was the most challenging part for Lorraine, and her top tip is to start them as soon as possible. She gained a real sense of achievement when she received her results.

Author: Mel James

Mel has over 15 years’ experience building and managing client relationships. Mel leads the whole life cycle of learning projects and is responsible for delivering design and delivery excellence through the attraction, selection, management, quality assurance and development of the design and delivery team. This involves the management of both internal and external resources.
Mel is a NLP practitioner and is recognised for her advanced facilitation skills, leading dynamic and collaborative group events, in the training room and online.
Outside work, Mel enjoys spending time with her family and socialising with friends; especially if it calls for a day at the races, or an eighties festival!
“Mel and the team have always produced high impact high value interventions for us. They learn about your organisation and become an extension of it, so employees ‘do not see the lines’. Mel is very personable and professional, can adapt to situations and demonstrate flexibility when delivering for clients.”